Man who baked for NHS to fundraise in lockdown opens Salford cafe
In less than two years, Loaf Mcr has supplied Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Pretty Little Thing, and has now opened their first site in Affinity Living Riverview, Salford.
A Manchester man who first started baking during lockdown to help raise funds for the NHS has opened his first cafe.
Called Loaf, in a nod to the sweet and biscuit-loaded NHS loaf cakes for which founder Aiden Ryan first became known, the new cafe opens its doors at Affinity Place in Salford this weekend.
As the name suggests, it will be serving up Aiden’s famous loaf cakes, alongside loafnuts, pastries and freshly brewed cups of coffee.
Those heading down can find Loaf favourites topped with Jammie Dodgers, Biscoff, Bourbon Biscuits and Custard Creams, alongside a special Pink Panther cake that is – you guessed it – very, very pink.
The Pink Panther loaf cake, topped with pink wafer biscuits, handmade macarons from @_bisousbisous, white chocolate and raspberry flakes. / Image: Loaf Manchester
Alongside this classic collection of nostalgic cakes, you’ll also find the Loaf Au Choc, croissant loaves and brioche loave fresh on the counter every day, all served by the slice.
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Elsewhere, there’ll be artisanal sandwiches and bagels provided by Sndwch Mcr, salads and smoothies from Bondi Bowls, and naturally made soft drinks from Steep Soda Co.
It’s been quite a journey for owner Aiden Ryan, who first started baking in 2020 to raise money for the NHS to tackle PPE shortages and a lack of staff food on-site after being furloughed from his fashion retail job.
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Image: Loaf Manchester
Within a month, he’d raised £1,000 selling just 120 sweetie and chocolate-loaded loaf cakes and carried on baking until restrictions were lifted – at which point he was ready to hang up his apron strings and return to his day job as a manager at Belstaff.
Life, however, had other plans – with Ezra and Gil getting in touch to ask if he might consider baking cakes for their cafes after seeing them on Instagram.
In the past year and then some, he’s not just supplied Ezra but also Feel Good Club, Hampton and Vouis, Propeller Coffee, Makers Quarter and many more – with his loaded loaf cakes going down a storm.
Image: Loaf Manchester
Image: Loaf Manchester
The brioche loaf, topped with berry and Granola with crème fraiche, strawberry and honey drizzle. / Image: Loaf Manchester
In less than two years, Loaf Mcr has supplied Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Pretty Little Thing, and has now opened their first site in Affinity Living Riverview, Salford.
Now, Aiden’s opened his own cafe for fans to get stuck into the cakes, which come covered in all manner of sweet treats including Lotus Biscoff, Jammy Dodgers, Kinder Buenos, figs, creme eggs and Bourbon biscuits.
He is also working towards opening a store on Oxford Road this summer.
Speaking on the new opening, owner Aiden Ryan said: “Loaf Manchester began in May 2020 through community and the support we’ve had from both customers and local business has been absolutely incredible!
“We are so proud of where the brand is now and the connections we’ve made. This weekend is not just the launch of our first site, it’s the celebration of our partnership with Affinity Living, a community-driven place to live, as well as the creatives and small businesses that have helped elevate Loaf to where it is now.”
Feature image – Loaf Manchester
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Police warn criminals ‘don’t bother’ attending Parklife after already making arrest
Daisy Jackson
Greater Manchester Police have said that criminals shouldn’t ‘bother’ coming to Parklife festival this weekend, after already making an arrest at the festival site.
Officers have been carrying out searches of people arriving on site this week – and have already arrested a 24-year-old man.
A quantity of pills and a knife were both recovered from the man, who has been arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs and possession of a bladed article.
After the arrest, Superintendent Phil Spurgeon issued a statement to criminals, saying ‘don’t bother coming to Parklife’.
He said: “We have a really robust police and partnership community safety operation for the festival, and the arrest and seizure yesterday demonstrates the vigilance of security staff, our thorough search procedures and our commitment to keeping people safe.
Parklife Festival, and (right) the suspected Class A drugs seized this week by police. Credit: GMP
“Make no mistake, illegal items such as weapons and drugs can have fatal consequences. Our top priority this weekend is keeping people safe, and anyone caught trying to take such items into the festival will be robustly dealt with.
“I hope the genuine festival-goers are excited for the fantastic weekend ahead and I am confident the majority will enjoy the event responsibly and safely.”
Greater Manchester Police and Parklife security staff will be working closely together to intercept anyone travelling to the festival with criminal intentions.
The arrest on 8 June was thanks to the festival’s drug detection dogs.
University of Manchester hit by cyber attack with ‘data likely copied’ by unauthorised party
Emily Sergeant
The University of Manchester (UoM) has confirmed that it has today become “the victim of a cyber incident”.
In a formal statement addressing the situation, the city‘s flagship further education institution says some of its systems have been accessed by an “unauthorised party” and that data has “likely been copied” as a result of this.
The University’s in-house experts are said to be “working around the clock” to resolve the issue.
External support teams are also said to be working in collaboration with the University to understand what data has been accessed.
Patrick Hackett – Registrar, Secretary, and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Manchester – explained in a statement issued this morning: “Regrettably, I have to share with you the news that the University is the victim of a cyber incident, [as] it has been confirmed that some of our systems have been accessed by an unauthorised party and data have likely been copied.
“Our in-house experts and established expert external support are working around the clock to resolve this incident, and we are working to understand what data has been accessed”.
— The University of Manchester (@OfficialUoM) June 9, 2023
Mr Hackett said he understands the nature of the issue will “cause concern to members of our community”, and says the University is “very sorry for this”.
The University says it is also working with relevant authorities – including the Information Commissioner’s Office, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the National Crime Agency, and other regulatory bodies – to resolve the issue, and will provide information to those affected as soon as they are able to.
Students and staff are also be told to be vigilant to any suspicious phishing emails within the coming days – with the University’s IT Services team having published some relevant advice to refer to.
Georgina Pellant -
13th May 2022 
